Next Steps and Questions for You

Assalaamu alaikum! Many of you have offered ideas for next steps -- projects that we can start in our local masjids or communities, or at a national/continental level. I've made a list of these ideas. Please note the (*) symbols indicating questions that need answering. Please comment to answer them:

1) Providing sign language at khutbas and Eid prayers; and providing Braille Qur'an. Lots of people have emailed me and asked me *where can I get a sign language interpreter for khutba or Eid prayer? and *how much would one cost? I've also been asked *where a masjid can get a Braille Qur'an and *how much that would be. Those of you who know these answers, please let us know by commenting!

2) Building a directory of masajid that are accessible. A great idea from Heiwa: make a list of masajid we know that are structurally accessible (ramps, elevators, lifts, bathrooms, etc.), provide interpreters, supply Braille Qur'an, offer support groups, etc. We can start this by people commenting with names, locations, and websites of centers they know that fit various criteria. For example, the Muslim Education Center in Morton Grove, IL offers ramps and elevators, a support group for families of children with disabilities, and is working on getting an interpreter for khutbas as well as Braille Qur'an.

3) Creating online sign-language instruction videos for Muslims. I've actually talked this idea over with some students from Gallaudet University in D.C. and inshaAllah we can get some videos up to instruct Muslims on basic ASL (American Sign Language) as well as some more "Islamic" vocabulary and phrases. Our sister Bree from GU shared this great link out of the UK that can serve as a model: www.signlabs.org.

4) Piloting a community-based interpreting service. This idea is a union of #1 and #3 and is inspired by the East London Mosque in the UK, which trained some of its own members in British Sign Language to help greet and reach out to deaf Muslims, and to work with professional interpreters at khutbas. InshaAllah we can pilot a similar project with one of our own local masajid and report back on the successes and challenges of such a project.

5) Lastly, I'd like to highlight some great work being done by our brother Asad in Michigan who aspires to build the first ultra-accessible masjid in the States! He's working with Mohammed Yousuf, one of our panelists, to make it happen inshaAllah. Hopefully he can keep us updated on his community's progress.

So keep your ideas coming and if you'd like to post something, email it to faaida1@gmail.com and we'll put it right up inshaAllah. The documentary video should be coming soon inshaAllah along with the panel video. If you are interested, here is the list of the panelists who spoke on the panel, in the order of their talks:

-- Dr. Mona Amer, Professor of Clinical Psychiatry at American University in Cairo and Yale University, and Editor in Chief of the Journal of Muslim Mental Health
-- Imam Zaid Shakir, Scholar at Zaytuna Institute
-- Mobin Tawakkul, Founder of American Muslim Health Professionals' Disability Needs and Awareness Working Group
-- Mohammed Yousuf, Founder and Director of HelpHandicap Foundation and an expert on structural accessibility
-- Video produced by: Asad Ali Moten, MPH
-- Moderator: Isra Bhatty